Finding the mere mention of her law "downright offensive," Gov. Brewer fired off a letter (PDF) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing her "concern and indignation" and asked Secretary Clinton to remove the mention of the law.

Chandra and Alessandra also point out why reports like the one submitted last month are so important, not least of all because they show the world that — despite troubling indications to the contrary — the U.S. does not take its international obligations lightly.

They also mention what the U.S. report doesn't: that S.B. 1070 violates another international treaty the U.S. ratified, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). CERD mandates that federal, state and local governments do not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin. In fact, you might say CERD was designed to prevent laws exactly like S.B. 1070 from being enforced.